Maravi

Sata opens State House doors to ordinary people
By Moses Kuwema
Fri 17 May 2013, 14:01 CAT

PRESIDENT Michael Sata says the doors to State House are open to ordinary people. And President Sata will today lay a foundation stone for the construction of Palabana University in Lusaka.

Speaking yesterday at State House when freedom fighters from Chinsali visited him, President Sata assured the freedom fighters that State House was their office.

"I thank you for visiting me here. As Dr Kenneth Kaunda said, we need to stand united as a country. Let us continue to respect this. This is your office," said President Sata.

And President Sata later in a statement said the birth of Chalimbana and Palabana universities would shortly be followed by the upgrading of infrastructure in other universities that had been created so far.
"I am proud to announce that government has already completed the transformation of the Nkrumah College of Education in Kabwe into a full-fledged University of Social Sciences. Government has further completed the transformation of the Copperbelt College of education in Kitwe into a fully fledged Mukuba University of Natural Sciences," President Sata said.
"The establishment of these universities underscores the PF government's determination to increase access to tertiary education especially for our young people who are currently competing to go to the only three public universities, being the University of Zambia, Copperbelt University and Mulungushi University."
In addition, the President Sata said government was completing construction works at the Robert Kapasa Makasa University of Science and Technology in Chinsali in Muchinga province.
President Sata said the government was determined to establish a university in each of the country's 10 provinces.
"It is with dismay that regardless of the growing population, Zambia has for the past 49 years of independence, lagged behind in the expansion of tertiary education especially at university level, due to the limited number of universities in the country. It is for this reason that the Patriotic Front government is determined to change this scenario," said President Sata.
And a representative of the freedom fighters, Samson Chifwamba thanked President Sata for the various developmental projects that were taking place in Muchinga Province and Chinsali.
Chifwamba named some of the developmental projects as Robert Makasa University and the construction of the provincial offices in Chinsali.
"This is the government for the poor people. We the freedom fighters have come to see you here at State House and we thank you for according us this opportunity," said Chifwamba.
Chifwamba said successive governments in Zambia had neglected the people of Chinsali.
"You have brought us Muchinga Province in Chinsali and created a number of jobs for the people in the province. If only this government took over power sometime back, the developments that would have taken place in Muchinga and Chinsali would have been massive. This is the government that we have always wanted," said Chifwamba in Bemba.

And Chifwamba asked President Sata to accord them an opportunity to take Frank Bwalya to Chinsali for him to be counselled on the need for him to respect leaders and elderly people.

"We have come to see you because we want you to give us Frank Bwalya. We want to take him to Chinsali to go and counsel him on the need for him to respect leaders and elder people. We the elders of Chinsali want Bwalya," said Chifwamba.

About 20 freedom fighters, led by Chinsali district commissioner Evelyn Kangwa, visited State House.

Labels: MICHAEL SATA, STATE HOUSE

posted by MrK @ 3:02 PM